Cape Epic Bike Check: Gert Heyns’ Titan Racing Cypher RS

19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
Gert Heyns is 1,85m tall and rides a size XL, Titan Racing Cyper RS.

Gert Heyns is riding the 2023 Cape Epic with Mathew Keyser and finished P32 in the prologue. Their bikes of choice are the 100mm Titan Racing Cypher RS machines. Gert is one of the most skilled riders in the field – hence no dropper post is required. A few weeks ago Gert very nearly won SA Road Champs (yes, in Elite men!) and is clearly in excellent form. Keep an eye on this duo — there may be fireworks coming.

19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
P32 for Team 32 in the prologue today.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
Gert says the bike feels more lively than what he used to ride and it handles the singletrack and steep terrain well.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
100mm stem with a 17-degree drop and he has trimmed his bars down to 720mm which he far prefers to the wider bars. He just prefers the feel with them a little narrower.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
180mm front and 160mm back Shimano rotors.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
The Cypher RS has 100mm of rear travel damped by a RockShox SID Luxe Ultimate shock.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
175mm SRAM XX1 cranks. Gert runs shorter cranks on his road bike but is yet to try them on his XC rig.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
Gert used a 38t SRAM X-Sync 2 chainring for the prologue and might go down to a 36t for some of the steeper stages.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
A SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS derailleur takes care of the shifting.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
Powermeter by Xcadey and he likes the Look pedals.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
A clean-looking, underbar lockout firms up the front and back end simultaneously.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
XL for a tall man.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
SRAM Level brakes.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
Fox 34 Stepcast fork up front. | *Click to enlarge
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
Tyre pressures are 20psi up front and 21psi in the back but he says it felt a bit soft today and will add a few psi for the rest of the race. He has tyre inserts that he might use later on in the race on the unpredictable terrain.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
Two plugs are locked and loaded on either side of the stem and the rest of the tools he carries in his pockets.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
The super lightweight Tubolito tube is taped under the saddle.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
Gert says he loves the Selle Italia SLR which is quite a long saddle but he likes to move around a bit.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
Carbon wheels by Black Marlin with Vittoria Mezcal Tyres in 2.35.
19 march 2023, meerendal, cape town, south africa | gert heyn's titant racing mountain bike as raced at the 2023 absa cape epic mountain bike event
Images: Rob Ward

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